‘The stuff of legend’: Unseen works of van Gogh and Cézanne from a private collection are going up for auction at $450 million
The paintings come from a collection amassed by the late Argentine art collector Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her sugar magnate husband, Carlos Pedro Blaquier, and are being sold by their children.
A dozen Impressionist and post-Impressionist artworks, valued at nearly half a billion dollars, are set to be auctioned after being unseen for decades in a private South American collection. Sotheby's auction house expects the Nov. 18 sale in New York to break records for Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. The paintings, part of a collection amassed by the late Argentine art collectors Nelly Arrieta de Blaquier and her sugar magnate husband, Carlos Pedro Blaquier, are being sold by their children.
Works by van Gogh, such as "Châtaigniers en fleurs" (Chestnut Trees in Flower), and Cézanne's portrait "Arlequin" are among the estimated $180 million and $120 million pieces, respectively. Neither of these masterpieces has been seen publicly for half a century. Art expert Philip Hook describes the collection as "the stuff of legend" due to its diverse representation of major Impressionist and post-Impressionist artists.
The auction, expected to draw global attention from tech billionaires, Middle Eastern institutions, and wealthy collectors from various regions, highlights the enduring appeal of these "museum-quality" works in uncertain times.
Written by urgent.news from Fortune's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
